Al-Jathiyah: (27) And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens...

And know that when the Almighty established proof by demonstrating His power to bring about life in the first instance, and His power to bring about life in the second instance (in the preceding verses), He generalized the proof by saying: {And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth} (27). This means that Allah has the power over all possibilities, whether they pertain to the heavens or the earth. If it is established that He is capable of all possibilities, and it is established that bringing about life in this being was possible (since if it were not possible, it would not have occurred the first time), then these two premises necessitate that He is capable of bringing about life in the second instance.

After demonstrating the possibility of resurrection and revival through these two paths, the Almighty mentioned the details of the states on the Day of Judgment. The first of these is His saying: {And the Day the Hour is established, that Day the losers will be in loss} (28). There are several points of discussion regarding this:

First Point of Discussion: The operative factor for the accusative case (in yakhsar - will be in loss) is yawm taqūmu (the Day the Hour is established). And yawma’idhin (that Day) is an appositive (badal) for yawm taqūmu.

Second Point of Discussion: We have mentioned in several places in this book that life, intellect, and health are like capital. Utilizing them to seek the happiness of the Hereafter is like a merchant using his capital to seek profit. The disbelievers exhausted themselves in these pursuits, yet they found nothing from them except deprivation and failure. Thus, this was, in reality, the ultimate loss.

The second detail is His saying: {And you will see every nation kneeling} (29). Al-Layth said that jathw (kneeling) is sitting upon the knees, like one kneels before a judge. Al-Zajjaj said that the root is jadhw (to squat/crouch). The author of Al-Kashshāf said that there is a variant reading jādhiyah. The people of language say that jadhw involves a more intense crouching than jathw, because the jādhi is one who sits on the tips of his toes. Ibn Abbas reported that jāthiyah means gathered together, awaiting what will be done to them.

Then the Almighty said: {Every nation will be called to its book} (30). This can be interpreted as a new beginning (ibtidā’), or kullu ummatin (every nation) can be an appositive for kullu ummatin (every nation) mentioned previously. His saying {to its book} means to the scrolls of their deeds. The singular form (kitāb) is used as a metonymy, similar to His saying: {And the Book will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is therein} (Al-Kahf: 49). It is apparent that this includes both the believers and the disbelievers, due to His subsequent saying: {As for those who believed...}.

Then the Almighty said: {As for those who disbelieved} (32). If it is argued that kneeling on the knees is appropriate only for the fearful, and the believers have no fear on the Day of Judgment, we reply that even the righteous and secure person might share in such a posture with the wrongdoer until his righteousness becomes manifest.

Then the Almighty said: {Today you will be recompensed} (32). The implied meaning is: It will be said to them, "Today you will be recompensed." If it is asked how the Book is attributed both to them and to Allah, we reply that there is no contradiction. It is their book in the sense that it is the book containing their deeds, and it is Allah's book in the sense that He commanded the angels to write it. {It speaks against you with truth} (32), meaning it testifies against you concerning what you did, without addition or subtraction. {Indeed, We were having inscribed} (32) (the angels) {what you used to do} (32), meaning We commanded them to write down your deeds.

Then He explained the states of the obedient, saying: {As for those who believed and did righteous deeds, their Lord will admit them into His mercy. That is the manifest success} (31). There are several issues here:

First Issue: After describing them with faith (īmān), He mentioned their doing of righteous deeds (al-ṣāliḥāt). This necessitates that the doing of righteous deeds is distinct from and in addition to faith.

Second Issue: The Mu'tazila argued that entry into Allah's mercy is conditioned upon bringing both faith and righteous deeds. That which is conditioned upon two matters becomes non-existent if one of them is absent. Therefore, if righteous deeds are absent, success with Paradise must not occur. Our response is that conditioning a ruling upon a description does not imply the absence of the ruling when that description is absent.

Third Issue: The reward is named mercy (raḥmah), and mercy is only correctly named as such if it is not obligatory. Therefore, the reward must not be obligatory upon Allah.

Then the Almighty said: {As for those who disbelieved, [it will be said], "Were not My verses recited to you, but you were arrogant and were a criminal people?"} (34). There are several issues here:

First Issue: Allah mentioned the believers and the disbelievers but did not mention a third category. This indicates that the doctrine of the Mu'tazila regarding the establishment of two intermediate positions (between faith and disbelief) is false.

Second Issue: Allah attributes the deserving of punishment to the fact that His verses were recited to them, but they were arrogant in accepting them. This indicates that the deserving of punishment does not occur until the coming of the religious law (shar‘). This, in turn, indicates that obligations are only obligatory through the religious law, contrary to what the Mu'tazila claim, that some obligations are obligatory through reason alone.

Third Issue: The response to the conditional clause (amā) is omitted. The implied meaning is: As for those who disbelieved, it will be said to them: "Were not My verses recited to you, but you were arrogant in accepting the truth and were a criminal people?" If they argue, "How is it appropriate to describe the disbeliever as a criminal in a context of censure and blame?" We reply that it means that despite their disbelief, they were not just even in their own self-governance; rather, they were transgressors within that very religion. And Allah knows best.

{And when it is said, "Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth, and the Hour [is coming]—there is no doubt about it," you said, "We do not know what the Hour is; we only assume, and we are not certain." * And the evil consequences of what they did will appear to them, and they will be enveloped by that which they used to ridicule. * And it will be said, "Today We will forget you as you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours, and your refuge is the Fire, and you will have no helpers. * That is because you took the verses of Allah in ridicule, and the worldly life deluded you." So today, they will not be brought out of it, nor will they be allowed to make amends. * So to Allah belongs all praise, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, Lord of all worlds. * And to Him belongs majesty in the heavens and the earth, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.} (37-40)